Reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee believes that he’s ready to conquer a heavier division.
Lee moves up to challenge ONE Welterweight World Champion Kiamrian “Brazen” Abbasov in an explosive battle of champions in the main event of ONE Fight Night 4 this Saturday morning, November 19, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“I believe it’s about two years since [Abbasov] defended the welterweight title. I’ve been actively clearing out the lightweight division,” Lee told ONEFC.com.
“So right now, there is no clear contender, and with there being no fight in the lightweight or welterweight division, it only makes sense to put the two champions together.”
The 24-year-old also alleviated fears of him rushing into putting on muscle and weight, which could affect him negatively if not done right.
But Lee took care of that by adding weight before starting his training for this camp, so he believes he has mitigated the risks of getting too big, too quick.
“Going into this fight, I feel that my cardio is better than it’s ever been. I truly feel like I’m in the best shape that I’ve been in so far. I think it’s easy to make the mistake when you’re moving up a weight division, to just simply put on the size, to put on the extra weight, and then to neglect the cardio,” he said.
“I took some time to put on extra weight so that when I did step up the training, and when I did start doing my cardio, I would be able to be in the same shape I was fighting for the lightweight title as I’m going to be for the welterweight title.”
As someone who knows has bulked up in the past, Lee believes that this will be a successful move and promises that he’ll be ready come fight night.
“But moving up to welterweight, I’m just going to take the same approach that I did, when I moved up from featherweight to lightweight. I’m not focused on my size, I’m not focused on how big or small I’m going to be in that division,” he said.
“I’m just going to go in there in the best shape possible, and take a shot at the title. And then when I claim the title, that’s when I take the time to fully make the switch and adjust my weight and adjust my training to be comfortable fighting at 185.”
In the meantime, tickets for ONE Fight Night 5 and ONE 164: Pacio vs. Brooks at the Mall of Asia Arena on December 3 are available at https://linktr.ee/ONEPH.
Also, catch “Globe Presents ONE Warrior Series Philippines” every Sunday night on GTV, the ONE Super App, and watch.onefc.com. Weekly replays air on Tap Go, ONE Championship Philippines Facebook, and ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel.